NASCAR announced Tuesday that stage racing at road courses will have a new look in 2023 with no caution flags interrupting the flow of competition. Additionally, the sanctioning body will enforce rules already written in the NASCAR Rule Book to officiate vehicles that employ a similar strategy to the one Ross Chastain used in his “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville Speedway by issuing a time penalty.
The removal of stage cautions at road courses comes following a review of Fan Council Data and industry discussions. Stage points will still be awarded at the stage-ending lap, but the green-checkered flag will not be displayed and there will not be a caution period to interrupt the action.
In other competition-related news, competition officials have revised the penalty structure for detached wheels, shifting away from the four-race crew chief suspension that had been in place since 2015.
Competition officials have also expanded the list of tracks where wet-weather equipment could be used in 2023, adding several tracks of 1 mile or less to the mix of road courses. Those events include races at: the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Martinsville Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway for All-Star weekend, Phoenix Raceway, Richmond Raceway, The Milwaukee Mile and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
— NASCAR.com —
